LAUSR

BACKGROUND Health sciences students should have the necessary skills required to find health information from online resources for future use in their clinical practice. OBJECTIVE To assess the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) and its association with internet use for health-related purposes, self-perceived health and health-related behaviour among health sciences students. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in a convenience sample of 528 health sciences students (47.2% nursing, 41.9% physiotherapy and 11.0% occupational therapy) with a mean age of 20.89 ± 4.23 years. A self-administered questionnaire, including sociodemographic data, questions related to internet use for health-related purposes, self-perceived health and health-related behaviour, and the eHEALS tool were used. RESULTS The overall mean eHEALS score was 3.19 ± 0.78. The lowest score was reported for the item, "I feel confident in using information from the internet to make health decisions" (2.92 ± 1.05). A one-way ANOVA test revealed that students who consider access to health resources on the internet to be very important had the highest eHEALS scores. (p = 0.015). There were also statistically significant differences between the participants' perceptions of the usefulness of the internet with regard to making health decisions (p < 0.001), the accuracy of information on the internet (p = 0.001) and the eHEALS scores. We observed a statistically significant difference between the participants' perceptions of their own general health and their eHEALs score (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Health sciences students have a moderate level of eHealth literacy, which suggests that these students, as future healthcare providers, need to improve their eHealth literacy skills when searching for reliable health information. Positive attitude towards internet use and positive self-perception of health are the most relevant factors associated with eHealth literacy. IMPACT STATEMENT As future healthcare providers, students need to develop eHealth literacy skills in order to find reliable health information. A positive attitude towards internet use and a positive self-perception of health are factors associated with eHealth literacy. Educators should promote training programmes that ensure students are acquiring suitable skills in eHealth literacy.